Elevator.



A. T. ADAMS.

ELEVATOR.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 25. 1909 1,1 17,619, Patented NOV. 17', 1914.

2 SHBETS--SHEBT1.

J WM 4 4 7% 1%. 999mm: M/W/W A. T. ADAMS.

Patehted Nov. 17, 1914 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 ln/arzair m UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALONZO T. ADAMS, OF MAR-SEILLES, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,

TO FIARSEILLES COMPANY, OF EAST MOLINE, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLI- NOIS.

ELEVATOR.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ALONZO T. ADAMS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Marseilles, in the county of La Salle and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Elevators, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

My invention relates to elevators of that class adapted to receive grain or other ma terials and transfer it to a car or an elevated bin or granary.

To this end the invention relates to certain novel features of construction and arrangement which will be fully disclosed in the following description and definitely pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated a practical and preferred form of embodiment of the features of my present invention, it being understood of course that various modifications and changes may be made, especially as to size, form, and manner of assemblage, without departing from the scope of this invention.

In the said drawings Figure 1 is a side view in elevation of an elevator exemplifying my invention and arranged for use with the receiving hopper swung around to position in rear of a wagon to receive its load dumped therefrom; Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the upper portion of the elevator mast showing the mast, the conveying and return runs of the conveyer-flights and the track for the return run; Fig. 3 is a detail longitudinal sectional view taken at the upper end of the elevator mast; Fig. 4 is a central longitudinal sectional view through the associated ends of the elevator and receiving-hopper which are broken away; and Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 55 of Fig. land also showing certain other parts in elevation.

The same reference numerals indicate corresponding parts in the several views, some of which are upon an enlarged scale to better illustrate the details of construction employed.

The elevator may be either stationary and permanently located or it may be portable, and for this latter purpose a suitable base or body may be employed, consisting in the present instance of parallel beams 19 suitably connected and spaced apart, and pref- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 25, 1909.

Patented Nov. 17, 1914.

Serial No. 485,640.

erably is in the form of a truck supported upon front and rear wheels as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

The elevator proper in the present embodiment comprises a tubular mast 2O preferably made of a suitable diameter of welltubing, and a conveyer comprising an endless series of correspondingly shaped disks or flights 21 corresponding in size with and having a sliding fit in the bore of the mast and connected by a suitably driven chain 22. In the present exemplification the flights are notched or recessed to approximately their centers and the chain rests in these notches being suitably connected to each flight in such manner as to hold the same approximately at right angles to the chain. These notches are in the tops of the flights as the same are in position in the mast, and the transporting or operating run of the conveyor travels from the receiving end to the discharge end of the mast with the solid portions of the flights sweeping over the lower portion of the bore, and the return run travels above or upon the upper side of the mast so that the notches in the flights face or open downwardly and cooperate with a guide or track 23 secured on or above the upper side of the mast as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. A number of advantages are realized by bringing the return run of the conveyer back above or on the top of the mast; for example, the return run is supported upon and guided by the mast itself or a guide upon or above the same thereby removing the strain of its weight from the connecting chain, and also the receiving end of the elevator may be dropped or lowered as much nearer to the ground as is the diameter of the flights so as to bring its receiving end downto ground-level to receive and accommodate a low receiving hopper, and also the opening in the boot for the conveyer flights is placed in the top of the boot instead of in the bottom whereby the lower part of the boot is made solid and without any openings to allow the escape of such grain as may work past or below the flights, and also the flights press down upon or travel with the grain as it is fed to the conveyor instead of passing or lifting up through it, and so pack or press the grain ahead of them and act upon more grain than if their direction were reversed, and are not retarded by the weight or resistance of the grain as they would be if traveling in a direction opposite to the direction of the grain entering the elevator.

The mast is so pivoted upon the base as to rest when out of use in horizontal position and to be set at an incline thereto (Fig. 1) when inuse. To accomplish this result I mount the mast near its lower or receiving end in an upright swinging frame 24, pivotally mounted between two of the beams 19 near the front end of the base and preferably concave at its upper end to receive the mast. The base is provided with an up- ,right rear bracket forming a seat in line with the swinging frame and adapted to receive and support the rear or free end of the mast when the latter is lowered. hen the rear end of the mast is raised the frame 24 swings the mast bodily forward and downward so that it clears the front axle of the wagon and its front end is beyond the forward end of the base or truck and substantially at the level of the ground or floor,

7 and when itswings back to horizontal position it is drawn or carried bodily rearward so that its lower or front end is drawn upward and inward on the base or truck and willnot interfere with horses hitched to a suitable tongue, etc., attached to that end of the truck to transport the elevator from place to place.

The mast may be raised and lowered by any suitable means and preferably for this purpose I provide a trolley-arm 27 pivotally mounted on the base and carrying a trolley-wheel 28 at its free end and operated by a rope or cable 31 connected at one end to an upright 32 on the frame and running through sheave 30 on the arm, sheave 33 on an opposite upright 34, and sheave 35 on the base to a winding drum 36 on the base. The means for raising and lowering the mast form no part of the invention claimed in the present application and so do not require extended description here, being part of the subject-matter of my divisional application filed August 15, 1913 and bearing Serial Number 784,858.

The upper end of the mast carries a bearing for a head-shaft for a sprocket wheel 43 over which the conveyor-chain runs, its bearing 44 being adjustable to maintain tension in the chain by any suitable means such as the screw-bolt 45 having threaded connec tion with a bracket or lug 46 on the mast and revolubly mounted in the bearing, as shown in detail in Fig. 3. The bearing for the head-shaft is extended beyond the exit or discharge outlet of the mast so that the grain is discharged before it reaches the sprocket, an enlarged hood 47 having a downwardly directed discharge or deflector being preferably employed at the head of the mast to receive the grain below the sprocket. By having the return run of the conveyor on the upper face or side of the mast the sprocket wheel 43 may be located beyond the outlet of the mast as clearly shown in Fig. 3 so that the grain is discharged before it reaches the headshaft or sprocket, thus avoiding crushing or pinching the grain between the chain and sprocket. In devices in which the grain is carried up and delivered over the headsprocket, as when the return run of the flights is on the under side of the elevator, it is subject to pinching and crushing between the sprocket and chain, and packs on and around the sprocket tending to clog the latter and create friction and draft on the chain, which tends to stretch the latter. By my invention these objections are obviated and the grain is discharged without coming in contact with the head-sprocket, and the weight of the return run is taken off this sprocket by being carried on the upper side of the mast.

The lower end of the mast is provided with the elevator boot'48 which provides bearings for a shaft 49 having a sprocket 50 in the boot for driving the conveyor flights. The shaft 49 extends through the boot and is provided at one end with a sprocket wheel 51 and at either end it may be suitably connected with the tumbling rod (not shown) of a horse power or it may be driven from any suitable source of power, such a suitable motor 52 mounted on the base; for the latter means a projecting end of the boot-shaft 49 is provided with an exterior sprocket wheel 53 driven by a sprocket chain 54 from a sprocket wheel 55 on a short shaft 56 mounted on the base and in turn driven by a belt 57 from the motor 52, the belt being shiftable by a belt-shifter 58 between fast and loose pulleys 59 and 60, respectively, on the shaft 56. The boot carries an idle pulley 61 on an arm in position to take up the slack of the chain 54 as the mast is raised.

lVhen the shaft 49 is driven in the direc tion of the arrows shown in Fig. 4, the flights 21 enter the mouth in the upper portion of the boot and pass down upon and through the grain which enters the boot through the inlet also located in its top and in front of the mouth for the flights. The boot is so related to the mast that the top of the boot stands in substantially horizontal position as shown in Figs. 1 and 4 when the mast is swung to its greatest angle of inclination, and for this purpose the mast and boot are disposed at an obtuse angle to each other. The boot is preferably provided with an adjustable cover 62 having side pieces 63 fitting telescopically within the boot and provided with cars 64 pivoted on the shaft 49, so that it may be trued up to horizontal when the mast is inclined at an angle less than its extreme inclination. The cover is held in adjusted position by any suitable means, such as the standards 65 on the body of the boot hav ing a series of holes to receive holding pins (not shown) passing through the standards into the cover. The sides of the boot and the sides of the cover are offset on the segment of a circle having its center or axis on the shaft 49, as shown at 67, in Figs. 1 and 5, so that the hoot will take the weight of the cover off this shaft and still allow the cover to swing about it. The cover is provided with a skirt or apron 68 of sheet metal at its front fitting within the front end of the boot and adapted to slide on the inner face thereof so as to always close the opening between the boot and its cover as the latter is adjusted. The skirt is pivoted or flexibly mounted on the front of the boot to allow ready access to the interior of the boot.

The grain is fed into the boot through the inlet in the top of the cover 62 by a suitable receiving drag or hopper 69, and the boot receives and supports one end of this hopper in adjustable and detachable relation, and with such arrangement that the drive of the conveyer-in the mast also drives the conveyer in the hopper when the hopper is in position on the boot. The hopper is provided with a discharge outlet at its rear end having a downwardly depending ring 70 fitting within the inlet of the boot. The inlet is provided with a casting 71 embracing the sides thereof and having a vertically disposed annulus 72 providing a circular inlet and forming a bearing for a double bevel gear-ring 73. An angular or flanged collar or ring 74: sets in the annulus 72 and has a horizontal upper flange 75 resting upon the upper end of the annulus 72, and is provided with a plurality of bolts 76 projecting through the lower portion of its skirt and taking under the base of the annulus to hold the collar in place while permitting it to turn on the annulus. The flange 75 extends sufficiently beyond the an nulus to overlie the bevel-ring 73 to hold the same in place while allowing it to freely turn. The ring 70 fits within the collar being provided with shoulder resting on the upper face of the collar 74 as clearly shown in Figs. 4 and 5. The collar 74 is also provided with an opposite pair of upwardly extending brackets 77 having vertical open sockets to removably receive the projecting ends of the drive shaft 78 of the receiving hopper which is removably supported thereby. By this arrangement the discharge ring of the hopper is swiveled to the boot so that the hopper may be swung around in a horizontal plane in either didection to stand at substantially a right angle to the elevator to allow a wagon to drive to position and then swung back into place in rear of the wagon and below its tail gate as shown in Fig. 1, the hopper being provided with a suitable skidding leg or support 7 9 at its free or outer end.

In order to drive the hopper-conveyer from the shaft 19 I provide a sprocket chain 80 connecting the sprocket wheel 51 on this shaft with the drive of the hopper-conveyer. The adjustable cover (52 carries a stub-shaft 81 provided with a combined bevel-gear and sprocket wheel 82, the bevel-gear portion of which meshes with one of the bevel-gears on the gear-ring 73 and the sprocket portion of which receives the chain 80. The cover 62 is also provided with a take-up idler 83 for the chain 80. The shaft 78 in the hopper is in turn provided with a bevel-gear 81 meshing with the other of the bevel gears on the gear-ring 73, and by this train of connections including the sprocket-chain 80 the hopper-conveyer is driven from the shaft 19, the shaft 78 having a driving-sprocket to drive the hopper-conveyer. By this arrangement the conveyer in the receiving hopper is driven by and in synchronism with the conveyer in the mast, the direction of movement of the conveyers being indicated by the arrows in Fig. i, and the gears 73 and 84c mesh and demesh as the hopper is placed in or raised from operative position on the boot. By this arrangement the hopper is removable from the conveyer or elevator and its driving connection is broken or its conveying mechanism is detachable from its driving mechanism by merely disassembling the hopper and elevator as by lifting the hopper vertically from its brackets or supports and when the parts are assembled or the hopper is again placed on its supports the driving connection therefor is made or established.

The hopper may be of any suitable form and construction and in the present embodiment consists of a rectangular metal body ST having a flat bottom 88 and provided with a conveyer consisting of flights 91 connected by a sprocket chain 92 driven by the sprocket wheel on the shaft 78, and which are so located with reference to the horizontal shelf or partition 93, extending across the hopper for substantially its length in line with the upper portions of the sprocket S5 and cut away at its end to receive the same, that the flights 91 pass along this shelf 93 upon which the grain is dumped or deposited and feed the grain into the boot-inlet in the direction of travel of the flights 21 therethrough so that the flights pass down upon the grain in the boot.

hen the elevator is used the mast is swung to inclined position to deliver the grain at the desired point, and the receiving hopper is arranged to discharge into the boot as the grain is dumped therein. The

hopper may be swung around out of the path of the loaded wagon to allow the latter to drive to position and then swung to position in rear of the wagon to catch the grain from the wagon and feed it to the boot. The mast may be inclined more or less according to the necessities of different cases, and the cover of the boot may be trued up to horizontal position as occasion requires. The trolley-arm raises the mast more or less with little physical effort on the part of the operator as the arrangement of sheaves and cable multiplies the power and the anti-friction roller in the free end of the trolley reduces friction to a minimum. The shaft 49 is suitably driven to move the conveyers to feed the material into the boot and elevate it to the discharge end of the mast.

I make no claim in this application to the various parts of the boot and the mechanism to drive the ccnveyer in the hopper as the same form parts of the subject-matter claimed in my application filed August 16, 1913, hearing Serial Number 785,069, and which is a division of the present application.

I make no claim in the present application to the features of construction of the hopper as the same form the subject-matter of my Patent No. 1,09,327 dated January 7, 1913, on an application filed April 29, 1912, as a division and continuation of the present application.

I make no claim in the present application tothe various parts of the means to support and adjust the mast as the same form parts of the subject-matter claimed in my application filed August 15, 1913, bearing Serial Number 784,858, and which is a division of the present application.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In a device such as described, an inclined elevator comprising a tubular casing having a track on its upper side and an endless conveyer traveling therein and having flights corresponding in size to the crosssectional area of the casing. the carrying run of the conveyer passing from the lower receiving end of the casing to its upper discharge end and the return run of the conveyer passing along the track.

2. In a device such as described, an inclined pivoted elevator comprising a tubular casing, an angular boot at the lower end of the casing and an endless conveyer traveling therein, a sprocket on the head of the casing beyond its outlet, the carrying run of the conveyer passing into the top of the boot and through the boot and the casing from its lower end to the sprocket at its upper end to discharge the material below the sprocket and the return run of the conveyer carried upon the upper face of the casing.

3. In a device such as described, a tubular mast pivoted at its lower end, an angular boot at the lower end of the casing, a

sprocket on the head of the mast beyond its outlet, a discharge hood receiving the grain at the outlet below the sprocket, an endless conveyer traveling in the mast and C0111- posed of a series of connected tubular disks passing on their carrying run into the top of the boot and through the boot and through the mast from its lower pivotal end and through the hood to the sprocket and carried upon the top of the mast on their return run.

a. In a device such as described, an elevator pivoted at its lower end and comprising a tubular casing and an endless conveyer traveling therein having flights corresponding in size to the cross-sectional area of the casing, a track on the upper side of the easing, the carrying run of theconveyer pass ing through the casing from its lower pivotal end to its upper free end and the return run of the conveyer passing along the track on the casing.

In a device such as described, a tubular mast pivoted at one end, a guide on the upper side thereof, an endless conveyer traveling therein and comprising a connected series of notched disks, the carrying run of the conveyer passing through the mast from its pivotal end to its free end and the return run of the conveyer passing along the upper face of the mast with the notches of the disks cooperating with the guide.

6. In a device such as described, a tubular mast pivoted at one end, a track on the upper surface of the mast, an endless traveling conveyer comprlsing a connected series of notched disks passing through the mast from its pivotal end to its free end and the notches of the return run of the conveyer engaging the track on the mast.

7. In a device such as described, a tubular mast pivoted at one end, an endless conveyer traveling therein and composed of a series of disks having recesses in their upper edges, a chain connecting the disks which on their carrying run pass through the mast from its pivotal end to its free end and on the top face of the mast on their return run, and a track on the top face of the mast cooperating with the recesses of the disks.

8. In a device such as described, a tubular mast pivoted at one end, an endless conveyer traveling therein and composed of a series of disks having recesses in their upper edges, a chain in the recesses connecting the disks which on their carrying run pass through the mast from its pivotal end to its free end and upon the top face of the mast on their return run, and a track on the top face of the mast fitting within the recesses of the disks.

9. In a device such as described, an inclined elevator comprising a tubular casing having an angular receiving boot at its lower end and an endless conveyer traveling therein and having flights corresponding in size to the crosssectional area of the casing, the carrying run of the conveyer passing down through the boot and through the casing from its lower end to its upper end and the return run of the conveyer passing along the upper face of the casing and into the top of the boot.

10. In a device such as described, an inclined elevator comprising a tubular casing, an angular receiving boot at the lower end of the casing and having a pair of inlets in its top, and an endless conveyer traveling in the boot and casing and having flights corresponding in size to the crosssectional area of the casing, the carrying run of the conveyor passing through the casing from its lower end to its upper end and the return run of the conveyer passing along the upper face of the casing and into one of the inlets of the boot in substantially the line of the grain entering the other inlet of the boot.

11. In a device such as described, a tubular mast pivoted at its lower end, a receiving boot on the lower end of the mast having a Copies of this patent may be obtained for mouth and a grain inlet side by side in its top, an endless conveyer traveling in the mast and boot and having flights corresponding in size to the cross-sectional area of the mast, the carrying run of the conveyer passing through the mast from its pivotal end to its free end and the return run of the conveyer passing along the upper face of the mast and into the mouth of the boot.

12. In a device such as described, a tubular mast pivoted at its lower end and having a track on its top, a receiving boot on the lower end of the mast having a cover provided with a mouth and an adjacent graininlet, an endless conveyer passing through the mast from its pivotal end toward its free end and the return run of the conveyer passing along the track on the mast and into the mouth of the boot.

In testimony whereof I atfix my signature 1 five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G. 

